Fitchburg man found guilty of wife's murder by morphine poisoning

A Fitchburg man was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole today Wed. Dec. 12 after being convicted of first-degree murder in the morphine poisoning death of his 27-year-old wife.

A Worcester Superior Court jury deliberated for about eight hours over two days before returning the guilty verdict against 33-year-old Asim Amran shortly after noon.

Mr. Amran showed no signs of emotion as the verdict was announced. Judge Janet Kenton-Walker later imposed the mandatory life sentence.

Prosecutors alleged that Mr. Amran, a Marine Corps veteran and a licensed practical nurse, gave his wife, Faiza Malik, a lethal dose of morphine on or about Dec. 31, 2008, in their home at 355 Summer St., Fitchburg, then stuffed her body in a suitcase and dumped it on the side of the road in Oxford.

Ms. Malik's badly decomposed body was discovered by police Aug. 20, 2009, in a suitcase near Depot Road in Oxford, off Interstate 395. Toxicology tests later revealed a fatal dose of morphine in her system.

Mr. Amran and Ms. Malik were united in an arranged marriage in Pakistan in 2004 and had a son, Haroon, who was 3-years-old when his mother was killed.

Mr. Amran, a native of Pakistan and a U.S. citizen, testified during his seven-day trial that he returned home on Dec. 30, 2008, to find his wife dead and empty pill bottles on a kitchen counter. He told the jury he disposed of Ms. Malik's remains in the suitcase because he was afraid he would be accused of killing her.

Mr. Amran said that fear was based on the fact that he had been unfaithful to his wife with several different women and that he had access to morphine and other drugs in his role as a nurse.

When questioned by state Police Sgt. James Nanof and Trooper Gerard O'Malley in May of 2009, Mr. Amran said his wife had left him.

The key prosecution witness in the case was Rukhsara Saffa, a former stripper with whom Mr. Amran was having an affair at the time of his wife's death. Ms. Saffa related to investigators that Mr.Amran told her he killed Ms. Malik and brought her to the location where the body was left. Police found the body the next day.

In his closing argument to the jury, Mr. Amran's lawyer, Kevin J. Reddington, said Ms. Malik knew of her husband's affair with Ms. Saffa and took her own life because she was distraught over their failing marriage.

Assistant District Attorney Daniel J. Bennett argued that the evidence showed Mr.Amran planned his wife's murder. He asked the jurors to find the defendant guilty of first-degree murder.

The jury's verdict options were not guilty of any crime, guilty of first-degree murder or guilty of second-degree murder, which carries a mandatory life sentence with the possibility of parole in 15 years.

“Faiza Malik came to this country with hopes of a bright future, but she was betrayed by the man she left her native land for. We hope this verdict can bring some closure to her friends and family,” District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. said in a news release.

In an impact statement read in court at the sentencing hearing, the victim's cousin, Sara Ahmed spoke of Ms. Malik's “unconditionally loving spirit,” her “exemplary character” and her dedication to her Muslim faith and her family.

Ms. Ahmed told the court that Ms. Malik had planned to go back to Pakistan in February 2009 and that her family had been anxiously awaiting her return.

“Faiza was a great mother and no one can take that away from her son, even if she was taken from this world.